Samsung Galaxy S4 i9507 Comparison to i9505

The GT-i9507 is the newest version in the Samsung Galaxy S4 family. Currently the phone is being rolled out in Australia, and Hong Kong where 4G+ networks are becoming more and more common. We expect Samsung will discontinue the 4G i9505 in these markets as the new network becomes available.

4G+ networks offer a speed increase from a theoretical 100Mbps offered by traditional 4G networks, up to the 150Mbps offered by 4G plus In Australia Optus are rolling out their 4G+ 2300MhZ TDD LTE network, Vodafone its 4G CAT 4 network, and Telstra their “4G Advanced” LTE-A network.

Sadly despite initial rumours, the i9507 does not ship with the Snapdragon 800 processor @ 2.3ghz, unlike the i9506, and instead ships with the i9505 processor, the Snapdragon 600 processor clocked @ 1.9ghz. This may however change as the production of the new Snapdragon 800 chipset increases.

Galaxy S4 Model Breakdown

i9500

– The original S4 with 3G coverage and the Exynos 5 Octa 8-core chipset sold in Asia, Africa, & some parts of Europe.

i9502

– Same features as the i9500 with dual sim slots released in China.

i9505

– The original 4G S4 with Snapdragon 1.9ghz 4-core processor sold in United States, Canada, Australia, and most parts of Europe.

i9506

– Same features as the i9505 with the faster 2.3ghz Snapdragon 800 processor & 4G + support. Available in Europe & Australia.

i9507

– Same features as the i9505 but with 4G+ LTE-A support released in Australia & Hong Kong

Galaxy S4 I9505 vs i9507 Spare Parts comparison

The i9507 fully dissembled by our Ninjas.

The logic board is of course different on the i9507 to allow for 4G+ coverage. What we didn’t expect however was the old Snapdragon 600 processor, as opposed to the faster Snapdragon 800 unit used in the i9506.

The Board is labelled GT-I9507 with a mfg date of 2013.07.17. All the chipsets that we can read are identical to the i9505 with the exception of the ARM holdings MBG965W chip. Sadly though there are some chipsets where the printing is especially hard to read.

Our i9507 model was pre-loaded with “Jelly Bean” Android 4.2.2 OS.

Good news for repairers. Unlike past Samsung phones such as S4 4G (I9505), the S4 3G (I9500), and even the Note-series with its’ n7100 and n7105 incarnations; the screen frame is not different on the i9507 to the i9505. This means your i9505 screen will in fact fit the i9507! This annoyed repairers to no end as even though the screens were identical, two sets of stock had to be kept if the repairer wanted to order the screens in frame (to make on-the-spot repairs simpler!). We can confirm that the i9506 runs a different screen to the i9505 & i9507

From the exterior we see that both the i9507 and i9505 share the same footprint. No surprises here. Rear cover & battery is also the same as the i9505.

Surprisingly the mid frame is the same as the i9505, meaning that i9505 / i9507 housings are interchangeable. Surprising considering i9500 & i9505 are different.

The charger port daughter board is also the same. Surprisingly the board even states on it i9505!

The small i9507 front camera is interchangeable with the i9505 & i9500. Samsung has seen no reason to redesign this part on any of the S4 models.

The rear camera is also the same. This is likewise surprising since the i9500 and i9505 had different rear cameras.

Samsung has reused the ear speaker from the i9505 & i9500 on the i9507. No surprise here, this flex also houses the light sensor.

Despite the black coloured part on the i9507 loudspeaker, the i9505 loudspeaker will indeed fit the i9507.

Again a surprise the Sim card flex which was different from the i9500 to the i9505 is the same unit as used in the i9505. Again even has the writing “i9505” on it.

Vibrator motor is again identical to the i9505. I think we are starting to see a pattern here!

We don’t have a picture of the i9505 headphone jack but you can be assured that your i9505 headphone will fit into the i9507 perfectly.

Conclusion

We are pleasantly surprised that Samsung didn’t need to redesign half of the S4 to get 4G+ coverage. This is a breath of fresh air after the huge differences between the i9500, i9505 and i9506 models

Disclaimer: Opening any electronic device will void your warranty, may damage your device, and may cause harm to yourself. We are not liable for any damages.